Deputy Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thi Le (second left) presents the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Certificate to a representative of the Chinese ethnic group. (Photo: VNA)

During the celebration on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, families pray for peace for a whole new year ahead. This is one of the big holidays and a special spiritual culture of the ethnic Chinese community and Vietnamese people in general.

Huynh Cam Phan, a Chinese ethnic person living in Ho Chi Minh City, said: “Because it is the full moon festival marking the beginning of the year, people celebrate it splendidly. Of course, everyone wants to be lucky and happy with prosperity and good health in the new year. I am very proud and glad that  the government recognizes this festival. ”

District 5 is home to many long time Chinese settlers. The first full moon celebration is a custom of historical and cultural value and a tourism product of Chinese ethnic people in today’s Chinatown.